Don’t just share a tweet, say something

You just wrote a great post. You are ready to share it with the world. So you hit the share button on your site, pop over to Twitter, hit submit, then sit back and wait for the the ensuing adulation.

If you are not getting the results you are hoping for, might I suggest you take a different tack when posting your tweets and include some information. So instead of this:

You get something more like this:

This is just some minor addition of text, but the tone of the tweet changes completely. Instead of counting on a brief headline to get your point across, you take some care to say something that summarizes exactly what people will be reading.

Even if they don’t click on the link, you are giving them a prompt for discussion and you will have a much better chance of people reacting to it.

If you combine that with a well chosen featured image, you have a compelling package that harkens back to the buzzy days of microblogging. While that word had died, the concept is still solid.

You should apply this same reasoning when sharing other people’s material. Don’t just click the button, but take some care with your feed and curate it properly. Add something to the conversation, pick an image to include and make sure you @ the person so that they know about your tweet.

DO NOT @ a list of people. This behavior is spammy and while one person in that list will probably be okay with it, the rest will be annoyed and will probably mute the conversation. If you keep it up, you better bet you are going to be muted if not unfollowed.

Much like your blog, your social media is a reflection of you. So don’t rush through the process. It won’t take much extra time and will increase your engagement and demonstrate your thoughtfulness to the people you have chosen to surround yourself with online.

Garry has a versatile skill set including web development, team management, project management and social media marketing. He is a problem solver praised for having a calming influence on demanding clients. He is a skilled communicator able to explain technical concepts in straightforward terms, and adept at strategic staffing, resource management and cost control.